Review: God’s Servant Job: A Poem with a Promise

This is a children’s book on the book of Job in the Bible. The book is really a poem by Douglas Bond for kids on the story of Job and his suffering. I was surprised at how much the author was able to rhyme while also retaining the structure of the book of Job. I read this to my children who are all four years old and under and I think they were able to follow along though I think this book might be intended for elementary school age kids.

The illustrations definitely reinforce the story and helped my children understand what was going on. Before I got the book I was curious as to how the book would illustrate the spiritual beings in the book of Job. Obviously God was not drawn and I love how angels were portrayed vaguely without much details compared to humans and were often part of a backdrop. Satan on the other hand is portrayed in the book looking somewhat like Dr. Strangelove in my opinion which left my kids asking me a lot of questions. The book does a good job of following the Bible’s account of Job and teaches the book’s purpose to trust in God even in the midst of suffering that we don’t fully comprehend why it’s happening. I recommend this book.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by P&R Publishing and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

It’s funny, but sad, how many Christian’s take the words of Job’s so-called friends as words to live by. Job is definitely an entire book that must be read in its context to understand what is going on.

Job is a good example of how if we don’t read it within the context of how the whole book unfolds, our attempt to “fortune cookie” verses can end up going against what God is trying to say, as you pointed out. I too find it amazing how sometimes people quote from Job’s friend uncritically without consideration that God later rebuked the contents of what his friends said. Thanks Patrick for your comment brother!

I am always wary of books written that are meant to present Bible stories. Many times they gloss over much of the Bible details and even change them in an attempt to make the text more easily understood. From your review, it sounds like these writers have done a pretty good job staying with the actual Biblical account. Thanks!

I have the same concern as you do too. The thing that I’m cautious about with children’s book of the Bible is that it often tries to make some man or woman (I’m thinking of a recent kid’s book I read on Esther) into a hero…when the text shows their flaws and that in the end it is God and Christ that’s the hero of the story. He is the Lord of Hosts, our Savior and our Coming King!

Rob, to your point, I was reading a book about Apostle Paul. It read like a novel with a lot of writer interpretations to make the story flow better. Although it was entertaining, I put it down because I didn’t want his thoughts to become my thoughts.

[…] this blog over the years this is the second time that I reviewed a children’s book (the first was God’s Servant Job: A Poem with a Promise). I am reviewing this book because I really enjoyed The Priest with Dirty Clothes by Christian […]